


Gotta Avenge 'Em All?

by meevees



Category: Pokemon, Young Avengers
Genre: Alternate Universe, Crossover, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-03-25
Updated: 2012-07-11
Packaged: 2017-11-10 03:36:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,800
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/461789
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/meevees/pseuds/meevees
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Teddy wants to be the very best. Like no one ever was. [pokemon trainers AU]</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Pallet Town

**Author's Note:**

> Spoiler free! Will contain gratuitous cameous of other Marvel characters throughout. Takes place in Kanto but going with the Isshu/Unova canon that pokemon trainers start as teens rather than children for fairly obvious, shota-avoiding reasons.

Teddy groaned and slammed his hand down on his alarm clock, cursing whatever force had caused it to go off on a Saturday. He rolled over, yanking the covers up over his head in the process, in hopes of falling back asleep. Until he remembered _why_ his alarm had been set for this particular Saturday. Suddenly wide awake, he bolted upright, shoving the blanket off of himself so forcefully in the process that it went flying off of the bed. Today was The Day. 

His preparations for The Day passed in a blur. Teddy took what might have been the fastest shower of his entire life—and then had to take a moment to rinse some remaining shampoo out of his hair in the sink because he had been so hasty. Thankfully, he’d prepared his outfit the night before. He dressed quickly, put on his cap, and headed down the stairs.

In the kitchen, his mother was putting the finishing touches on breakfast. “You’re up early,” she called from her post at the stove; she sounded completely unsurprised by the fact, even though it wasn’t out of the ordinary for him to sleep until noon most weekends. She turned around to face him, frowned slightly, and tapped the top of her head, “Not in the house, please.”

Grinning sheepishly, Teddy removed his hat and sat down at the table.

As she placed all of his favorite breakfast food in front of him, Teddy’s uncontrolled excitement about The Day abated somewhat and nervousness began to bubble in the pit of his stomach. It would probably be quite a while before he ate a meal at this table again. Before he saw his mom again. He still felt somewhat guilty that he was leaving her here alone.

Of course, Teddy had already voiced this concern and Sarah had quickly shut it down. He was under no circumstances to hold himself back on account of her. He was sure if he showed any hesitance today she would push him out the door herself, and probably lock it behind him. Still, he made a mental note to make it up to her by calling home more than was strictly necessary. 

“Are you excited for today?”

“Excited. Scared. But, yeah, mostly just excited.” He replied. To further his make-up-for-the-fact-that-he-was-leaving-her plan, he didn’t even protest when she ruffled his hair as if he were a child.

“You’d better get going, sweetie. You don’t want to keep the professor waiting.”

Nodding, Teddy stood up from the table and made to grab for his backpack, which he’d packed the night before and left by the door. He had barely swung it over his shoulder before his mother was there, enveloping him in a tight hug. He hugged her back, holding on longer than strictly necessary. And, sure enough, she just dropped his hat back onto his head and gave him a light push out the door.

“You’ll do great.”

“Thanks, Mom.”

And so he left home. For the first few steps he took the longing to return was painful. But he found the further he got from the house, and therefore the closer to his goal, the more it dissipated. Soon enough he was headed purposefully toward the lab across town, his excitement back at full force. Today was The Day, after all.

Today Teddy was going to get his first pokemon.

When he finally reached the lab, Teddy stepped inside but lingered by the door, gazing around awkwardly. It was a large building, after all, and he didn’t want to get himself lost or wind up somewhere he wasn’t supposed to be. Thankfully, someone quickly noticed him, recognized him as one of the new pokemon trainers, and led him to the room where the professor was waiting.

Professor Xavier was waiting for him beside a table upon which sat three pokeballs, and in that moment Teddy was certain he would explode from the excitement. There were no other kids his age around, so he was evidently the first one to arrive.

“Welcome, Teddy. Are you ready to choose your first pokemon?”

“Yeah,” Was all he could manage in reply, and he tried to make it sound less breathless and desperate than he felt, but he was pretty sure he failed.

The professor just smiled, “As I’m sure you already know, there are three pokemon here: the grass type Bulbasaur, fire type Charmander, and water type Squirtle. You may choose whichever you wish.”

Teddy had been running this choice through his head—while lying in bed at night, in the shower, daydreaming in class, _all the damn time_ —for a long time now. He’d weighed all of his options, considered all of the possibilities. And he had continuously come to the same conclusion. Teddy knew his choice. So, for what seemed like the first time that day, he didn’t hesitate. He reached out and took hold of the pokeball with the leaf insignia engraved upon it. “I’ll take Bulbasaur.”

“A worthy choice. Although I’d say they each are, in their own way.” The professor glanced briefly toward the door as he spoke, “Now, since you seem to be the only one here for the time being I suppose we can get do—”

He wasn’t even able to finish his sentence before a loud ruckus erupted from the entryway of the lab. The sounds of an argument could be heard growing steadily louder, as several new trainers had apparently arrived.

“I’m gunna get there first, loser!”

“Tommy, don’t be a jerk.”

And suddenly two boys—who looked so alike that Teddy assumed they must be brothers—burst into the room, pushing, and shoving, and tugging at each other as if each wanted to prevent the other from entering. Teddy simply gaped at them. The professor cleared his throat.

As though he’d been shocked, one of the boys immediately backed off, looking bashful. The other seemed to take this as a sign of his own victory and strode forward, ready to claim his pokemon without waiting for instruction or permission. He hadn’t noticed Teddy was present yet. Either that or he had chosen not to acknowledge him.

The professor was not perturbed by any of this, “Thank you for joining us, boys. As you can see, Teddy arrived before you; first come, first serve is the rule, so he has already chosen his pokemon. You may have your choice from the remaining two.”

Now Teddy definitely had the attention of the first brother; he found himself being appraised by a pair of sharp, green eyes. The boy had a tuft of white hair sticking out from beneath his cap, which was turned backwards, and there were a pair of orange goggles fixed upon his head. Once he apparently felt he’d sized Teddy up sufficiently, he turned to survey the remaining pokemon. And he scoffed. “You chose _Bulbasaur_?” His voice was incredulous, as if he couldn’t believe anyone would make such a foolish decision, “Whatever. That means the best is left for me.”

He quickly swiped the fire-marked pokeball. He had chosen Charmander.

Finally, the second brother stepped forward, his choice already made for him, and took Squirtle’s pokeball as his own. Hopefully, Teddy thought, it had been the pokemon he’d wanted anyway. Teddy knew he personally would be happy with _any_ pokemon, but there was no denying he would have been disappointed not to get the Bulbasaur he’d been dreaming of for so long.

As the boy looked up they made eye contact, and Teddy offered him a small smile. Unlike his brother he had dark hair, and his eyes were brown, their expression less harsh. He had a messenger bag slung over his shoulder and was wearing a red headband, although it had gone askew, likely a result of his tussle with his brother. Teddy motioned silently for him to straighten it out, and he hastily grabbed at it, looking away as a blush spread across his cheeks. 

“So…I’m Teddy.” He said somewhat awkwardly. They already knew that, of course, because Professor Xavier had already said as much, but he couldn’t think of a better way to ask for their names.

The green-eyed one stared him down again. “Tommy.” He replied. The second brother opened his mouth to speak, but was cut off as Tommy continued, “And my less attractive twin is Billy.”

To his credit, Billy just rolled his eyes and let it go.

The remainder of the time spent at the lab was dull, and Teddy was itching to get out, to get his journey started. They got their pokedexes. The professor explained to them the basic rules of being a pokemon trainer, all of which Teddy already knew because he’d only been preparing for this moment for most of his life. They could compete in the pokemon league by defeating gym leaders throughout the region and earning badges. They could only carry six pokemon with them at a time. Any others they caught would remain here at the lab.

Finally they were free to go; Teddy exited the building as fast as he could possibly go without seeming impolite.

Unsurprisingly, Tommy had beaten him there.

He was lingering just outside and seemed to be waiting. Teddy tried to simply walk right by, but Tommy wasn’t going to let go that easily, “Hey, where do you think you’re going?”

Teddy was tempted to simply keep walking as if he had not been addressed, but that would be rude, and he was never rude if he could help it. So he turned around to face Tommy and earnestly replied, “I’ll probably start by heading toward Viridian City.”

Tommy rolled his eyes, “Duh. I mean, aren’t we going to have a battle before you go?”

The overwhelming excitement had returned again, although Teddy was a little torn. On the one hand, he wasn’t sure he liked this person very much and he was ready to put some distance between them. On the other, the prospect of his first pokemon battle was too enticing to turn down. He nodded vigorously.

Billy had emerged from the lab at that moment and, realizing what was going on, hung back to watch the battle. They took their positions and Tommy summoned his Charmander. For the first time ever, barely able to contain his glee, Teddy tossed the pokeball and released Bulbasaur.

He took first call, “Leech seed!”

Bulbasaur fired a small seed which latched on to Charmander and did little else. Tommy laughed, “Really? Not the best opener I’ve ever seen. Ember!”

“Dodge it, Bulbasaur.”

And the battle continued similarly for several minutes. Charmander came full force with its small arsenal of offensive attacks and Bulbasaur doing its best to dodge, growling to soften the blows Charmander landed.

“Come on,” Tommy goaded, sounding almost bored, “Aren’t you even going to fight back?”

But although it had gone unnoticed by Tommy, Bulbasaur had been fighting back all along. The leech seed had been doing its job, keeping Bulbasaur healthy while slowly draining Charmander. Now, despite having been on the defensive for the entire battle, Bulbasaur was practically glowing with health, while Charmander was barely holding on. It took just one tackle for Charmander to be knocked out. They had won the battle.

At the risk of being a sore winner Teddy let out a cheer and dropped to the ground to embrace Bulbasaur. Tommy cursed as he recalled Charmander to its pokeball. He was disappointed about his loss for sure, but Teddy caught him smiling faintly at the pokeball before replacing it in his pocket.

“Good battle,” Teddy said genuinely as he stood back up, Bulbasaur still cradled in his arms. Tommy just shrugged.

“Whatever. Just don’t think you’ll beat me so easily next time.” But the words weren’t spoken maliciously. In fact, the challenge almost sounded like a friendly one. Almost. And before he’d even given Teddy a chance to respond he stalked off on the path toward Route 1. 

That left Teddy alone with Billy, who was grinning happily at him. Teddy wasn’t sure why this boy he’d just met would be so happy to see him win a battle against his own brother, but he found he didn’t mind it one bit. He smiled back.

“Good job. It was about time someone took Tommy down a peg.”

Teddy realized that, for the whole morning they had spent together, it was the first time he had heard Billy speak. Somehow, it didn’t seem like a coincidence that it hadn’t happened until after the departure of his more boisterous twin.

“Thanks!” He replied, and he couldn’t help but smile a little wider. That was followed by an awkward silence settling between them. Billy had quickly taken to studying his shoes. Eventually, Teddy spoke up again, “Well, I’d better get going too, then. Good luck with…you know, everything.”

Billy looked back up at him and seemed to contemplate his response for a moment or two before settling on, “Uhh, yeah. You too.”

He looked like he might want to say more, but Teddy waited as seconds passed and nothing more was said. Finally, he gave a small wave and began to make his way. He wondered why it was so difficult to walk away from a boy he literally didn’t know when just hours before he had resolutely left home for an indefinite amount of time.

After on brief glance back at Billy, who was smiling at him once again, Teddy set off on his journey.


	2. Route 22

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Teddy wants to be the very best. Like no one ever was. [pokemon trainers AU]

Teddy was a little lost.

It was embarrassing to admit it, even just to himself, because he was just barely outside of Viridian City and he’d been farther from home than this plenty of times in his life. But this was his first time on foot, and it was a much greater difference than he’d anticipated. Once he’d gotten past the city limits and there were no longer signs to point him in the right directions, Teddy didn’t even know where to _start_ to get to where he was trying to go.

Fortunately, his mother had the foresight to pack a compass in his backpack for him. Unfortunately, knowing which way was north wasn’t particularly helpful when Teddy didn’t know which direction he needed to be going in anyway.

Ready to at least make some sort of move, Teddy settled on a promising looking westward path and began walking. He’d barely made it a dozen steps when a voice called out from behind him, “You’re going the wrong way.”

It was Billy. He was standing a few yards behind Teddy, holding a large, creased piece of paper. Apparently he had chosen to release his Squirtle from its pokeball, and it was standing slightly in front of him, glancing at Teddy cautiously, obviously ready to protect its trainer if need be.

Teddy flushed. “Well, there isn’t really a right or wrong way, right? We’re just supposed to go.” It was a sad attempt to hide his embarrassment. But he really didn’t want to admit he had no clue what he was doing, and he was especially disinclined to admit it to Billy.

Billy smiled genuinely at him, but he was also obviously trying to suppress his laughter. “Sure, but, the only thing that way is the Pokemon League headquarters, and they’re not going to let you in without any badges.”

Possibly afraid that Teddy would react negatively to being corrected, Billy continued on before Teddy had a chance to respond. He held up his sheet of paper, which Teddy could now see was a map, “See? That’s how I know. I got it from some woman back in Pallet Town, but she only had two and I think Tommy snagged the other one. Sorry.”

“You don’t have to apologize for that.” Seriously, Billy had probably just saved Teddy at least a day’s worth of wasted walking. And it wasn’t like he couldn’t just head back to the mart in Viridian and get a map of his own (which probably would have been the smart thing to do from the beginning, now that he thought about it). Or…he’d had a thought brewing in the back of his mind since they’d gone their separate ways the day before, and this seemed like a good moment to try bringing it up. It was a big risk because if Billy wasn’t interested, while nothing really terrible would actually happen, Teddy would be completely mortified. But he decided to go for it, “And we could always share it…”

Billy didn’t answer straight away, and he looked bemused, “Huh?”

Teddy rubbed nervously at the back of his neck, “I mean, if we maybe stuck together?” When Billy didn’t immediately look put off by Teddy’s suggestion, he gained a little confidence. Grinning, he added, “Between my compass and your map we could probably find anything, right?”

Billy laughed. It might have been the best sound Teddy had ever heard; he was going to have to start making jokes more often.

“And it’s just pretty lonely traveling by myself. So I figured I’d ask.”

So he’d done it. He’d asked Billy to come with him, he’d made his case, and now the worst that could happen was Billy saying ‘no’ (Teddy couldn’t actually think of anything worse at the moment). It was hard to gauge how Billy felt about the suggestion, however, because he still simply looked confused.

“Really? You want to stay with _me_?”

“Well, yeah!”

Now Billy didn’t look so confused. In fact, he was smiling from ear to ear. “Cool! That’d be…I’d like that. A lot.”

There were butterflies in Teddy’s chest. Billy had not rejected him. Billy actually seemed excited about the idea of travelling with him. It seemed like a moment when he should say something really cool or witty, but Teddy couldn’t think of anything, so he just said, “So, where to first, then? Since you obviously know better than me.”

Billy seemed relieved to break eye contact with Teddy and focus on studying the map, “The closest gym is north of here; that’s probably a good place to start, right? We’ll have to go through the Viridian Forest to get there.”

Teddy didn’t even have a chance to respond. He’d barely opened his mouth to speak when yet another familiar voice called out from behind him, “ _You_ again?”

This time it was Tommy; he was quickly approaching them, apparently backtracking from the detour Teddy had almost accidentally taken himself. “Ah, and my little bro, too! A little early for a reunion, guys, don’t you think?”

“Have a nice trip down the scenic route, Tommy?” Teddy had meant for the comment to be nothing more than a little friendly snark, although it had come out a bit harsher than planned. Tommy narrowed his eyes.

“Hn. Those Pokemon League people won’t know what hit them once I come back with all of my badges. Besides, I’d say the walk wasn’t a total waste.” There was a pokeball clutched in Tommy’s hand, and then he tossed it up in the air only to catch it again, as if showing it off. Teddy noticed it didn’t have the familiar flame insignia on it, so it wasn’t Charmander’s. Which meant Tommy had already caught another pokemon.

Teddy felt an inexplicable surge of both jealousy and embarrassment. So what if Tommy was a little ahead of him? There was no reason that should bother him. But for whatever reason it did bother him and, based on the smug look on Tommy’s face, Tommy could tell.

“So whaddaya say, Teddy? Want another battle?”

The last thing Teddy wanted was to be the type of trainer who refused a battle just because he was afraid to lose it. But that didn’t mean he wanted to rush into every battle, even when the odds were completely stacked against him. He’d beaten Tommy the first time with a clever strategy, and although the other boy has fallen for it once, it wasn’t likely he was foolish enough to fall for it a second time. Charmander would have an almost insurmountable advantage. And now Tommy had another pokemon, the identity of which was still secret to Teddy. He couldn’t win this battle. He knew it, and Tommy knew it. He wasn’t about to agree to it just to boost Tommy’s damaged ego.

“Sorry. Think I’ll have to pass this time.”

Tommy looked only briefly put off by the rejection; his frown was quickly replaced by a self-satisfied smirk. 

“Can’t say I blame you. I’d be afraid to get my assed kicked by me, too.” Teddy glared; avoiding that sort of reaction had been exactly the reason he’d been tempted to accept the battle. Tommy didn’t seem to notice him though. He just turned to Billy and continued. “What about you, bro? You haven’t had a chance to battle yet.”

If the way the little pokemon puffed up its chest was any indication, Billy’s Squirtle was ready to accept Tommy’s challenge. But Billy just shook his head and quickly replied, “No, thanks.” Squirtle deflated.

Now Tommy really looked put off—neither one of them had risen to his bait, after all. “Fine. No reason to stand around here then; you guys are just going to bore me to death. I’m off to show the Pewter gym leader who’s boss.”

And just like that, without so much as a proper good-bye, Tommy turned around and left. They watched him go until he was over the crest of a hill and out of sight.

“Wow,” Teddy finally broke the silence, “Is he always like that?”

“He’s really not as bad as he seems. He kind of has to grow on you.” Billy spent a while longer looking out in the direction where Tommy had disappeared before turning back to Teddy, “If we leave now as well, we should still have a good part of the day to start making our way through the forest.”

But Teddy wasn’t ready to leave quite yet. That second pokemon of Tommy’s had remained in the back of his mind, and now it came to the forefront again. There would probably be plenty of pokemon to catch in the Viridian Forest, but he still couldn’t shake the feeling that Tommy’s catch meant he was already falling behind.

“I don’t think I’m ready to leave just yet.”

Billy frowned, “What do you mean?”

“I mean I want to try and catch a pokemon first. Tommy obviously managed, right? I promise not to go too far down the road—just a little ways to see what I can find.”

Despite looking exasperated Billy didn’t protest; he just nodded and let Teddy lead the way down the road.

Finding a wild pokemon turned out not to be difficult at all. There were plenty of them around, and Teddy had to admit he wasted some time taking the sight in with wonderment. Mostly the area was populated with Spearows—they looked nasty, eyeballing Billy and Teddy as they approached, clearly ready to attack if necessary—and Teddy wasn’t certain he wanted to push his luck against them with Bulbasaur at a disadvantage. He spotted a male Nidoran and considered going after it, but he’d barely had time to react before it had become aware of his presence and skittered off. 

Disheartened, Teddy was just about to give up and tell Billy he was ready to turn around. There would still be plenty of pokemon to catch in the forest, after all, and he was just wasting both of their time. But then he spotted the perfect opportunity. A small group of Mankey sat in a tree a few yards away. They were busy eating berries off the tree’s branches, so they hadn’t noticed him approaching and they had their guard down. He grabbed Bulbasaur’s pokeball off his belt.

“Uhh, Teddy…I don’t think that’s the best idea.”

Billy had obviously caught on to his plan to go after the Mankey, and he sounded a lot more nervous than he did enthused. But Teddy was already committed. He released Bulbasaur from her pokeball and started with the same command he had started his battle with Tommy: “Leech seed!”

The small projectile flew up and smacked one of the Mankey directly between the eyes. Startled, it lost its balance and fell from the tree as its other companions quickly scattered. For a moment it lay unmoving on the ground; it seemed the wind had been knocked out of it in the fall. Feeling as if that may have been the easiest pokemon battle on record, Teddy grinned and grabbed hold of an empty pokeball, ready to catch the newest member of his team.

Teddy didn’t have a chance to lob the ball. Mankey recovered quickly, and suddenly it was on its feet and staring down Bulbasaur, enraged. 

“Growl, Bulbasaur!” But Teddy had reacted a split second too late, and while that strategy had worked excellently against Charmander, he had not been as quick, or nearly as angry. Mankey seemed unfazed by the stat-reducing attack, and assaulted Bulbasaur with a merciless stream of scratch attacks. Teddy tried to instruct her to tackle, but it was impossible; Mankey was in too close and was attacking nonstop. She couldn’t even defend herself from the onslaught, let alone counter.

Briefly, Teddy was certain that he would lose. Squirtle looked about ready to jump into the battle, until Billy grabbed hold of the tenacious pokemon and hoisted him into his arms. But if the tide of the battle didn’t turn soon, they might need Squirtle to step in just to help them get away. Teddy considered recalling Bulbasaur to her pokeball and suggesting they try to run for it. But he squashed that thought down quickly, unwilling to give up.

Mankey had ended its barrage with a low kick that sent Bulbasaur sprawling. She was wiped out, but that last attack had at least had the advantage of putting some desperately needed distance between the two pokemon. They had a small window of time before Mankey attacked again to turn the battle around.

And while the leech seed may not have worked quite as effectively as it had on Charmander, that didn’t mean it hadn’t worked at all. Between the seed and the damage it had done to itself falling from the tree, Mankey was beginning to slow down. And Bulbasaur had been renewed just enough to get to her feet once more. This time when Teddy ordered a tackle she didn’t hesitate before slamming into her opponent. And when Mankey rose to its feet she was ready to tackle again. The next time Mankey stood back up she didn’t even wait for a command from Teddy; she lashed out again, this time with a pair of vines now protruding from the bulb on her back.

“Woah, that’s vine whip!” Billy called out in surprise.

Once, twice, three times Mankey was slashed by the vines. This time when it collapsed to the ground it made no move to get up again.

Before Mankey had a chance to recover like it had after falling from the tree, Teddy tossed a pokeball. The ball lay shaking on the ground and Teddy could practically feel the fury emanating off of Mankey from inside as it tried to break free, but the seal held and the ball fell still. Teddy had made his first catch. 

He returned Bulbasaur to her pokeball for some hard-earned rest, and returned his two pokeballs to their place. He only allowed himself the briefest moment for celebration, though, because the other wild Mankey had started to return, and they were up in their tree staring down at he and Billy cautiously. That was a confrontation they would do best to avoid.

He faced Billy, who offered him a congratulatory smile, and said “Ready to head out now? We could still make pretty good time in the Viridian Forest, I bet.”

Billy rolled his eyes, “You mean after we backtrack to the pokemon center in Viridian City to heal your pokemon which just completely wiped each other out?”

“Oh yeah…guess I hadn’t really thought of that,” Teddy blushed, grinning sheepishly, “Sorry?”

Billy tried to fake sternness, but a smile quickly broke through the façade, “Doesn’t matter, I’m not in any hurry. But you are not allowed to make any more detours today!” And with that Billy began to walk off, ensuring that he would lead the way back toward the city line. Squirtle, having been released from his trainer’s grip once the battle had ended, trotted along beside him.

“Fair enough.” Teddy replied to Billy’s back, before he fell in step behind his new travelling companion. He still couldn’t wipe the grin off his face.


End file.
